Hi again, FGS!
To continue, there are these, also from the Baha'i scriptures:
[W]hosoever partook of the cup of love, obtained his
portion of the ocean of eternal grace and of the
showers of everlasting mercy, and entered into the
life of faith - the heavenly and everlasting life.
But he that turned away from that cup was condemned
to eternal death. By the terms "life" and "death,"
spoken of in the scriptures, is intended the life of
faith and the death of unbelief. The generality of
the people, owing to their failure to grasp the
meaning of these words, rejected and despised the
person of the Manifestation, deprived themselves of
the light of His divine guidance, and refused to
follow the example of that immortal Beauty.
(The Book of Certitude, page 114)
y "resurrection" is meant His own rise to
proclaim the Cause of God.
(Ibid., page 116)
Such things have come to pass in the days of every
Manifestation of God. Even as Jesus said: "Ye must
be born again."(1) Again He saith: "Except a man
be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter
into the Kingdom of God. That which is born of the
flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit
is spirit."(2) The purport of these words is that
whosoever in every dispensation is born of the
Spirit and is quickened by the breath of the
Manifestation of Holiness, he verily is of those
that have attained unto "life" and "resurrection"
and have entered into the "paradise" of the love of
God. And whosoever is not of them, is condemned to
"death" and "deprivation," to the "fire" of
unbelief, and to the "wrath" of God. In all the
scriptures, the books and chronicles, the sentence
of death, of fire, of blindness, of want of
understanding and hearing, hath been pronounced
against those whose lips have tasted not the
ethereal cup of true knowledge, and whose hearts
have been deprived of the grace of the holy Spirit
in their day. Even as it hath been previously
recorded: "Hearts have they with which they
understand not."(1) In another passage of the Gospel
it is written: "And it came to pass that on a
certain day the father of one of the disciples of
Jesus had died. That disciple reporting the death
of his father unto Jesus, asked for leave to go and
bury him. Whereupon, Jesus, that Essence of
Detachment, answered and said: "Let the dead bury
their dead."(2) In like manner, two of the people of
Kufih went to Ali, the Commander of the Faithful.
One owned a house and wished to sell it; the other
was to be the purchaser. They had agreed that this
transaction should be effected and the contract be
written with the knowledge of Ali. He, the exponent
of the law of God, addressing the scribe, said:
"Write thou: `A dead man hath bought from another
dead man a house. That house is bounded by four
limits. One extendeth toward the tomb, the other to
the vault of the grave, the third to the Sirat, the
fourth to either Paradise or hell.'" Reflect, had
these two souls been quickened by the trumpet-call
of Ali, had they risen from the grave of error by
the power of his love, the judgment of death would
certainly not have been pronounced against them. In
every age and century, the purpose of the Prophets
of God and their chosen ones hath been no other but
to affirm the spiritual significance of the terms
"life," "resurrection," and "judgment." If one will
ponder but for a while this utterance of Ali in his
heart, one will surely discover all mysteries hidden
in the terms "grave," "tomb," "sirat," "paradise"
and "hell." But oh! how strange and pitiful!
Behold, all the people are imprisoned within the
tomb of self, and lie buried beneath the nethermost
depths of worldly desire! Wert thou to attain to
but a dewdrop of the crystal waters of divine
knowledge, thou wouldst readily realize that true
life is not the life of the flesh but the life of
the spirit. For the life of the flesh is common to
both men and animals, whereas the life of the spirit
is possessed only by the pure in heart who have
quaffed from the ocean of faith and partaken of the
fruit of certitude. This life knoweth no death, and
this existence is crowned by immortality. Even as
it hath been said: "He who is a true believer
liveth both in this world and in the world to come."
If by "life" be meant this earthly life, it is
evident that death must needs overtake it.
(Ibid., pages 118-121)
[T]he other lofty names and exalted attributes of
God. Therefore, whosoever, and in whatever
Dispensation, hath recognized and attained unto the
presence of these glorious, these resplendent and
most excellent Luminaries, hath verily attained unto
the "Presence of God" Himself, and entered the city
of eternal and immortal life. Attainment unto such
presence is possible only in the Day of Resurrec-
tion, which is the Day of the rise of God Himself
through His all-embracing Revelation.
This is the meaning of the "Day of Resurrection,"
spoken of in all the scriptures, and announced unto
all people. Reflect, can a more precious, a
mightier, and more glorious day than this be
conceived, so that man should willingly forego its
grace, and deprive himself of its bounties, which
like unto vernal showers are raining from the heaven
of mercy upon all mankind? Having thus conclusively
demonstrated that no day is greater than this Day,
and no revelation more glorious than this
Revelation, and having set forth all these weighty
and infallible proofs which no understanding mind
can question, and no man of learning overlook, how
can man possibly, through the idle contention of the
people of doubt and fancy, deprive himself of such a
bountiful grace? Have they not heard the well-known
tradition: "When the Qa'im riseth, that day is the
Day of Resurrection?" In like manner, the Imams,
those unquenchable lights of divine guidance, have
interpreted the verse: "What can such expect but
that God should come down to them overshadowed with
clouds,"(1) - a sign which they have unquestionably
regarded as one of the features of the Day of
Resurrection - as referring to Qa'im and His
manifestation.
(Ibid., pages 143-144)
(I'll head to yet another message.)
Best,
Bruce